Ukrainian Police (Criminal Record) Certificate for Ukrainians in the UK

The Legalisation Office of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) attaches the apostille — a stamped, official certificate — to UK public documents. Before attaching one, the office checks the document’s signature, or its seal, against its own records. A document that has completed this process is described as legalised.

Which documents can be legalised

Legalisation applies to a document that a UK public official issued, or that such an official certified — a solicitor or a notary in the UK can be that certifier. The examples named on gov.uk are a contract, a power of attorney, and a qualification certificate in copy form that a solicitor has certified.

Two routes, one online application

You apply online for either type.

• Paper-based apostille: the documents travel by post, though a registered business may bring them in person instead.
• e-Apostille: an electronic certificate for a PDF that a notary or solicitor in the UK has signed electronically.

Documents outside the e-Apostille

Some documents sit outside the e-Apostille and can only be legalised on paper. Gov.uk rules it out for certificates of birth, of death, of marriage, of civil partnership or of adoption, together with other papers that the General Register Office has issued, and for:

• ACRO police certificates (England and Wales);
• DBS certificates (England and Wales);
• disclosure certificates (Scotland and Northern Ireland);
• fingerprint certificates.

Anything on that list goes through the paper-based route instead.

Fees per document

Courier charges arise on paper-based applications, and a document that cannot be legalised is not refunded.

How long each route takes

What the receiving authority expects

Ask the body that will receive the document what it accepts, because some authorities want paper even where an e-Apostille exists.

Whichever route a document takes, the certificate is attached by the FCDO Legalisation Office.